In my opinion, the word balance is often oversimplified. Social media often makes it seem like it’s just adding a side of broccoli to pizza and calling it a day or even bouncing from extreme “grind” to extreme rest. Sometimes seeing this messaging without addressing underlying themes of how to really look into and create balance in your life can be simply unhelpful and leave you feeling defeated. In my experience, balance can come down to body wisdom; consideration of physical, mental and emotional health; societal wisdom; intrinsic motivation; and flexible thinking. 

Body Wisdom

Knowing what is going on in your body and connecting your habits to how you feel is easier said than done, but can be a key driver in a long term health change. From a balance perspective, this can really help you prioritize your daily decisions, since we do make thousands of them per day. Simply put, it is easier to navigate decisions and think “this will be a blow to my energy, health, and make my day a little tougher” or “this will bring me joy and is lower on the totem pole for priorities in my wellness” or “ this may lead to other unfavorable decisions to my wellbeing”. Our body is not compartmentalized, it is interconnected, and really expanding our awareness of its inner workings can eventually help our health habits become second nature. 

Physical, Mental, and Emotional Health  

I believe these are all equally weighted for a good life, and that is to me the true definition of balance. All of these can affect how we feel and show up to our careers, relationships, and for our communities. It takes practice to consider each of these areas in our decisions. For some, their physical health might be top notch, but if they are constantly thinking about it everyday and it is consuming their thoughts and life, it is not necessarily supportive of their overall wellbeing. Each of these areas is multifaceted and affects the others, so it does take some deep inner work to fill your cup in each. 

Societal Wisdom

I keep saying how we as a society talk about and approach things matters, and it can really positively or negatively affect our thoughts towards health and ultimately our actions. It is important to be aware of how the medical system and food marketing play into your unique balance, so that you can make empowered decisions. It is important to always weigh lifestyle changes with medical decisions, even if you might be swayed otherwise. It is also helpful to be aware of food and health marketing, and messaging that you might be seeing in the media on a regular basis. This can ensure that you are consuming foods that you truly enjoy or that actually nourish your body. These are more of the bigger picture influences that might be impacting your unique balance. It’s easier said than done- but it’s important to be discerning here! 

Intrinsic Motivation

This is a key player for individuality and autonomy when it comes to balance. In this case it means whatever decision you make- you are doing it for you. It could mean you are making decisions out of enjoyment or see them as an opportunity to explore, learn, or actualize your potential. This is more supportive of your mental, physical, and emotional health buckets than making a choice for external validation.

Flexible Thinking

To me, flexible thinking is embracing curiosity over black and white thinking. If your habits are causing you to not feel so great mentally or physically, it might be time to get curious. What actions can you take to start moving back into balance? What do you think the root of this imbalance is? There is so much power in increasing awareness and reflecting without judgment or labeling. 

Some Resources for Balance
We all have our journeys for finding balance and our life and health- myself included! One powerful form of reflecting and starting to notice the balance or imbalances in my life has been writing. I’d encourage you to check out my wellness journal article to consider a health focused journal that is right for you. Not only are you increasing awareness, but freeform writing can help develop new neural pathways, which is crucial for change. Looking back, yoga has also been a game changer in how I navigate imbalances and think flexibly in my life. The physical aspect and recovery is great, but it also introduced me to a whole new way of thinking. Lastly, To Be Magnetic, an energetics program centered around meditations and journaling with the goal of increasing your self worth has been tremendously helpful in my health journey. We hope these blog posts help you create autonomy for how you want to approach balance in your own life.